Additions to Hall of Fame

 In November 2010 I put together the Hall of Fame of those from Illinois who had visited us in Mountain View.  I promised to add more, if they qualified.  In July two more additions were made to the Hall of Fame.  Bill and Judy Kruse visited July 10-14. 

Eric and Amy Johnson and Jake, Zack, Alec, and Isaiah visited July 17-19.  To see the entire Hall of Fame, please look below at "older posts". Scroll down to November 30, 2010. 

Our Son Turned 40

 Our son, Lance, turned 40 on June 24th.  Grace, with the help of friends, threw a great party. 

 The brothers, Brad and Matt, surprised Lance by showing up at the birthday party;  Brad from Africa, Matt from Joliet. 

 The special "Over the Hill" cake. 

 Even Emily took part in the pool party. 

The guest of honor provided some of the entertainment over Emily's objections. 

Missouri Monsoon

I can't believe the rain we've been having.  We've been in the Missouri monsoon season.  We've had over 12 inches of rain in one week.  And the soil was already somewhat wet before that started.   

Of course, the valley behind our house has a big pond.  We even have had shorebirds and wading birds find our backyard "lake". 

  

Hundreds of roads are closed and dozens of schools are closed, including Mountain View schools.  This is crazy.  We may have more rain tonight.  

This is a street in our subdivision.  Low areas all around my corner of the Ozarks are flooded.  

That's our house on the hill.  Do you think the water will reach us? 

Hearing didn't help

The old gobbler rattled the woods for 15 minutes from his roost.  When he flew down, I distinctly heard him gobble two more times.  Dad never heard him at all.  But hearing didn't help.  That gobbler marched right to Dad's calls and his decoys and Dad put him in the freezer.  I heard him very well, but he ignored my calls and decoys.  It was Dad's 65th wild turkey harvested.  He's only 50 ahead of me. 

It's Turkey Season

Today is opening day.  Dad and I were out there, but no game in the bag....yet. 

This is the view from my blind this morning.  There are no gobblers in my sights. 

I saw one hen turkey today.  She almost walked up to my decoys before she spotted me. 

Dad saw some gobblers, but didn't get one.  Over the years he has harvested 64 wild turkeys.  I've got to hustle to catch him.  I've only shot 15. 

Our season lasts for three weeks.  The limit is two bearded turkeys.  We'll keep at it until we collapse from fatigue.  This is an exciting time in my corner of the Ozarks. 

Cardinal Nation

The baseball season has started!!   Go Cardinals!

All over Cardinal Nation, from Oklahoma City to Danville, Illinois, and from Little Rock to Iowa City, Cardinal fans are listening, watching, and reading about their team. 

The photo above is from 2008.  My mother was almost as big a fan as my dad. 

We can watch every game on television this year.  (Only a couple of games were not televised last year.)  When I was a kid, we followed the Cards mostly by radio or in the next morning's newspaper.

I easily identified with the family in John Grisham's novel, A Painted House.  They listened to Cardinal games on the radio through the static.  Our house had paint, but I heard many Cardinal games on my transistor radio.  Linda's dad listened faithfully on the radio when she was a little girl.

I have some friends who don't like baseball.  They prefer the face-paced action of basketball or football.  But to me, the pace of a baseball game alternates between "relaxed" and "crazy".  I like to say that since there is no game clock in baseball, time stands still.

Whitey Herzog wrote a book with the title of "You're Missin' a Great Game".  To appreciate the game of baseball, you have to watch the "game within the game".  You have to watch what the fielders do on each pitch, what pitch is thrown, whether the batter is swinging or taking, the length of lead the runners take, and then....when the batter puts the ball in play, the action picks up to the "crazy" level.

I really believe my buddies are missing a great game.  But...I am concerned about what big money is doing to Major League Baseball.

I hope this is really spring

Today's forecast is for 80 degrees.  The last two weeks have been up and down.  Some highs in the 40s and some in the 60s.  All the cool-season grasses are bright green, but the Bermuda grass on the golf course is still "white". 

Forsythia and daffodils are flowering, but that may not prove anything.  The redbuds are starting to show a little color.  So there is hope.

A sure sign of spring:  I've had to mow the lawn twice.